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The Lion The Bear And The Leopard - Part 2

In our last issue of the CURRENTS, we recognized the prophecy
of Daniel 7 applies to more recent kingdoms. The four beasts of Daniel
Seven (the Lion, the Bear, the Leopard, and the strange diverse 4th
beast) are universally seen as the same 4 kingdoms found in Daniel Two
(the head of gold, arms of silver, belly/thighs of brass, and iron
legs). This false interpretation is among the gravest of errors, for
it has helped to sustain the concept of the so-called "Revived
Roman Empire"

- a foundational misunderstanding primarily linked to the Rapture
Cult.

The Preterist Apostates are equally flawed in their
short-sighted approach as they terminate all prophetic kingdoms with
the ancient Roman Empire. In a similar fashion, Seventh Day
Adventists and other Sabbatarian spin-offs make the same mistake
by approaching the 4th and final Empire as Rome and then integrate
that error into a historicist perspective. All these systems are
fatally flawed as they have failed to recognize the pivotal
identification of the four modern kingdoms in Daniel Seven that
are prophetic parallels of the four ancient kingdoms of
Daniel Two.

In part one of this essay, we demonstrated how the Lion kingdom is
emblematic of the British Empire. The Lion in the
heraldry articulated rampant position (standing) is sequentially
placed in the time period when the Eagle's wings were "plucked
off." I have previously noted how an un-churched 8 year child,
upon hearing this information for the first time, once blurted out
"that's America!" Thus, a bright child has shown more
spiritual wisdom than myopic seminary chancellors,
"Christian" pastor-teachers, and alleged scriptural
scholars.

Following the Lion era, Daniel clearly sees the Soviet Union
in the form of a voracious Bear kingdom that has "three
ribs in the mouth of it." 1. Also standing up, the
bear is emblematic of the extreme leftist political paradigm in
that it is seen "raised up...on one side." In its early
days, the Communists completely devoured the three Baltic states of Lithuania,
Latvia, and Estonia
- and held them for 70 years until the Union's dissolution
- a 70 year captivity of Warsaw Pact-Eastern bloc nations that provides
an intriguing parallel to another well known captivity.

These two identification are overt and obvious.
It is the vision of the third kingdom that has been the most
challenging as it 'turns a prophetic corner' in setting up the rise of
the fourth and final world Empire. Concerning this Leopard
kingdom, Daniel writes:

"After
this I beheld, and, lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon its
back four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads, and dominion
was given to it." 2.

Although I believe the LORD imparted to me long ago the certainty that
all of these Empires are to emerge during the Christian era, I
struggled for two years before I received the word of knowledge that
this third kingdom was indeed Germany. To be more
precise, the Third Reich of the Nazi dominion is in view with the
imagery of the Leopard kingdom of Daniel Seven.

The question of identifying the Leopard with Germany is
advanced by consulting the Encyclopedia Americana where we
abruptly realize that a Leopard is actually another word for Panther.
The Leopard "...is more commonly called Panther in India...."
3. It is interesting to note the German language is from
the Indo-European branch where the Nazi party extracted their
distorted concept of the term Aryan from the Sanskrit word that
originated in India.

The German people seem to have a particular fondness for the Panther,
and we find the term is utilized broadly in Germanic culture. In the
German television industry, for example, a major vendor is Panther
Electronics. In the military, two prominent naval vessels (a
cruiser and a gunboat) were both named The Panther. Under
Hitler's Third Reich, the primary tanks were named Panthers,
while another tank was the Panther's relative the Tiger.
Indeed, 21st century Germany now manufactures a tank that has been
deployed in Bosnia known as the Leopard. The armored
divisions of the Nazi's were known as Panzer divisions
- certainly evocative of Panthers.

Because the Lion, the Bear, and the Leopard/Panther are all beasts of
prey, the connotation intrinsic in the imagery of these beasts is
clearly militaristic. The Panther would probably be the best predatory
animal image of the German militarists of both world wars. As the big
cat is known for speed and agility, so was the military machine of the
Weimar Republic (World War I) as well as the Wehrmacht of World War
II.

ccording to the Encyclopedia Americana, "...lightning war
was thought by the Prussian (German) general staff to 'be the only
means to win...'" 4. Similarly, Hitler inaugurated
what was called "Blitzkrieg" (lightning) warfare. Again, the
historical record shows that "...German theory was based on
mobile warfare...German artillery was therefore exceptionally
mobile." 5. The panther is probably the most mobilebeast of prey in existence.

The Leopard in Daniel's vision was described as
"having four wings like those of a fowl" as well as
"four heads." Lets take the wings first. Unlike the Eagle's
wings mentioned in connection with earlier British/Lion figure, the
prophecy specifically states there were four wings. Because no
bird has one wing, this would appear to imply two sets of wings,
or perhaps two forces that assist the Panther. History records the
forces of The Axis encompassed Germany, Italy, and
Japan. Both Japan and Italy were active in the air war, so it's
possible this refers to Germany's two air power allies that backed
Hitler in World War II.

In reference to the "four heads," we find there are so many
groups of fours that it's difficult to know which one is
actually being referred to. In the early stages of the nation, there
were four major Germanic tribes: The Angles, Saxons, Alemans,
and Franks. Before the turn of the century there were four
prominent states -- Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and
Wurttemberg. Incredibly, it just so happens that the first
federal government of Germany "consisted of four free
cities loosely bound together...." 6.

This multiplicity of candidates indicates the repetitive themes that
are found throughout Bible prophecy. These patterns continually
re-emerge. However, moving to the most recent and overt
manifestation, it should be apparent that the four head's primary
fulfillment refers to the fourfold division of authority that occurred
via the four victorious allies under the QUADRIPARTITE agreement that
legally enforced the occupation of Germany after Hitler's defeat.
After the war, four military commanders controlled Germany.

"An interallied agency, called the Kommandatura, operated as the four
power coordinating group...." 7. in the administration
of the country. The Encyclopedia tells us a government structure known
as The Allied Control Authority was created "...composed
of the four zone commanders." 8.

A Russian general controlled the Eastern zone, a British
general ran the Northwestern zone, a French general ran the
Southwestern zone, and an American general administered the
western zone. This arrangement continued for years after the
war.

It is at this point that we see one of the most striking examples of
dual fulfillment in Biblical prophecy. Just as the third
kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar's statue dream (the Grecian empire of
Alexander The Great) was replaced by four generals in
what has come to be known as the Ptolemaic period, the third
kingdom of Daniel's beast vision (Nazi Germany) was also replaced
by four generals.

One of the reasons this identification has been obscured is because of
Daniel Eight. In that crucial prophecy, we see a
straightforward description of the third ancient kingdom of Alexander
the Great. In that "ram/goat" vision described in
Daniel chapter eight, there is a detailed prophecy concerning this
fragmenting of the third kingdom of the 'statue' prophecy of Daniel
Two.

In the ram/goat vision, the "great horn" of the powerful
goat was predictive of Alexander The Great. The scripture says
that...when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and for it came
up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven." 9.
The "four notable ones" were the four key generals that had
served under Alexander, and they divided up the empire between them.
The power struggle that ensued eventually boiled down to two factions
that produced a series of wars known as the Ptolemaic-Seleucid
wars.

The Seleucid kings were descended from Seleucus I, the general
that ruled Syria under Alexander. His opponent was Ptolemy
I, the general that ruled Egypt. For almost 200 years,
these two dynasties controlling Syria in the North and Egypt
in the South brought the Judeans into constant military turmoil. The
northern Syrian kingdom eventually generated the most hideous and
demonic leader of his day: Antiochus Epiphanes.

Antiochus persecuted the Jews in unheard of ways, but he was finally
overthrown. The occupied state of Israel then passed into the hands of
the fourth kingdom of the statue dream
- Rome.

The reason I've gone into such detail here needs to be clarified.
Since both vision/dreams are clearly operating in parallel with dual
fulfillment of the prophecies, an accurate identification of the
various players should provide solid evidence relating to the identity
of the final world empire and its leader. To put it another
way, if we misidentify the first 3 kingdoms of the beast vision, how
could we possibly expect to accurately identify the fourth, and final
kingdom?

This point is so important that it's worth repeating. The third
kingdom of both vision/dreams is the next to the last kingdom. In both
cases, they precede the fourth, and most important kingdoms.
Both third kingdoms were noted for the speed in which they conquered
surrounding nations. Both third kingdoms culminated in the death of
their charismatic leader, and both kingdoms were marked by a
transitional governmental composed of four military leaders.

In the statue dream, the fourth kingdom was the Empire that witnessed
the coming of "him whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting." 10. This fourth kingdom was the Roman
empire, the most powerful military and political confederation in
antiquity. The Romans were in power when Jesus Christ was born.
The Romans crucified our Lord, and witnessed his resurrection.
Following the ascension of Christ and the birth of the Christian
church, the Roman empire completely obliterated the ancient nation of Israel.

This identification means the four kingdoms of the statue dream
provided a countdown to the first appearance of Jesus
Christ. The four statue kingdoms also provides us with a countdown
to the military destruction of God's Old covenant people.
Conversely, instead of being simply a reiteration of those four
kingdoms, the four beast visions represent four different kingdoms
that begin their chronology about 2,000 years later. These four
kingdoms provide us with a prophetic countdown to the military resurrection
of God's Old Covenant people. This occurred in 1948 when the Jewish
people were re-gathered in their historic land and formed the modern
nation/state of Israel.

Following this line of interpretation, because the first four statue
kingdoms were all manifested sequentially before the
destruction of ancient Israel, the four beast kingdoms must all have
been sequentially manifested before national Israel was
resurrected as a modern state. Thus, the fourth kingdom should have
been established shortly before the founding of the nation of Israel,
and obviously, the first three must precede the fourth. This
establishes a rather narrow time frame within which we may identify
the fourth and final kingdom of planet Earth.

Adolph Hitler,
the leader of the third beast kingdom of Daniel's prophecy, committed
suicide on May 1, 1945 and Nazi Germany surrendered a week later.
Shortly thereafter the allied powers installed the four generals to
administer post-war Germany. Since Israel became a nation in 1948, it
follows that the fourth and final world kingdom must have been
established within those two dates
- 1945 to 1948.

Another factor important to this identification is the requirement
that this fourth kingdom must have the same thing in common with all
the other kingdoms mentioned: a significant interaction with the Jews.
These two requirements, the narrow time frame, and the necessary
interaction with the Jewish people, preclude the popular notion that
the fourth kingdom is the so-called 'Revived Roman Empire,' as
personified by The European Community (EC).

The European Community,
and its predecessor organization The European Common Market,
developed as a result of The Treaty of Rome. This treaty was
signed in 1957, and accordingly, does not fit within the
appropriate time frame. Further, the EC has had virtually no
historic role whatsoever in terms of a significant impact on events in
national Israel.

Because the fourth kingdom is the empire that catapults The
Antichrist to power, our identification requires a global
perspective. Every verse in the Bible implies he is a global figure.
Speaking of his confederate The False Prophet, the text does
say "...he causes ALL to receive a mark...." 11.
The word all would appear to imply far more than
Europeans. Indeed a quick bit of research in practically any
Encyclopedia will find the European Community listed under regional
organizations. Yet, to this day, the vast majority of prophecy
teachers confidently and categorically state that the European
Community is the final empire that will host The Antichrist.

There is only one global political entity of a lasting
consequence in the world today. It was founded between 1945 and
1948. It has claimed absolute authority in establishing
jurisdiction over the historic land called Palestine. Its power and
political reach is now reaching overwhelming proportions as its
members include virtually every government on the face of the Earth.
The United Nations IS the prophesied one world
government so frequently mentioned in the Bible.

The recognition of the intermediate American hegemony that is
presently being manifested only serves as a 'red herring' in
understanding how these kingdoms fit into the scriptural account. In
many respects, America and the United Nations are
alter egos of each other. The UScreated the UN
as a vehicle to draw in the rest of the world's nations to the
construct the American government intended to engineer. At the very
same time the UN was formed (1947), the United States
implemented the National Security Act which formed the National
Security State the US has become.

By slowly ceding power to it's own creation, the US is
transitioning its power base into world government and the UN
is the heir apparent. There are some very important details to this
process that are found in our study on The Beast with Seven
Heads
- however, those are beyond the scope of the present exposition. For the
present, suffice it to say that the United Nations is the
designated entity for world government and significant elements of theUSand the UN may be seen in the description of
the fourth Beast of Daniel Seven.

In Revelation, we recognize the components of the final beast
government with its description of the Lion, Bear, and Leopard
kingdoms now integrated into the final Beast. Thus, one can hardly
believe the ridiculous interpretive system that identifies the Lion,
Bear, and Leopard as Babylon, Persia, and Greece
if we see these as these 'Beast' empires as primary players in the
world government in the end times. However, when we recognize these
kingdoms as the British Commonwealth (many nations including
the US), the Russian Federation (14 nations), and Germany
(the strongest power in the 20+ European Community), we see a
plausible explanation of the real power embedded in the description of
the final Empire of planet Earth.

Thus, when searching for the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, instead
of looking at the fallacious and fictional concept of a 'Revived Roman
Empire,' we must instead look at the United Nations.
Furthermore, the last time I looked, the UN was based in New
York.

Through international treaty, the UN is now determining
how nations educate their children. The UN is forcibly
intervening in international military conflicts. The UN
is overseeing the world's financial systems as well as all legal
matters involving disputes among nations. These are not activities
that are scheduled to occur next year or next century
- The United Nations is running the world NOW.

In spite of the common perception that The UN is a benevolent
organization seeking to guarantee peace and safety, the prophet Danielgives us the most accurate description of the last government
of a Christ rejecting world.

"After
this I saw in the night visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, dreadful
and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth; it
devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the residue with its feet;
and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had
ten horns." 12.

With this world government now in power, we can be certain that Jesus
Christ will soon return. We can also be certain that we are
about to witness the emergence of The Antichrist, for
the Apostle Paul warns us that the return of Christ,
characterized in Thessalonians as The Day Of The Lord,
"...shall not come except there come a falling away first, and
that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." 13.

It's time to throw away what you've been told and study this for
yourself. The Beast Empire isn't coming to power in some "Revived
Roman Empire" in Europe. It's here in America
- NOW. The Antichrist will shortly come to power within the
institution of the United Nations, and he will take advantage
of every man, woman, and child that fails to recognize the truth that Jesus
Christ repeatedly warned us about.

The Apostle Paul
wrote that the emergence of the one world government headed by
"the man of sin" (the Antichrist) would be preceded
by a counterfeit gospel. This is the great "falling away"
from the truth seen in II Thessalonians 2. Jesus Himself
said "take heed that no man deceive you for many will come in my
name." 14. In this regard, He was saying that the
ones who come in the name of the LORD proclaiming that He (Jesus)
is indeed the Christ, will be the ones that will deceive you.This plainly states the deceivers will be found in the
"Christian" leadership.

The deception is upon us, and time is running out. The spiritual trap
is about to spring shut and most of the world has already fallen into
it. Leaders that you consider to be fine Christian men may be
among them, and many of them are unknowingly working to
convince you to follow them to their unpleasant fate.

Turn to Jesus while you still can.

[This essay was adapted from a work first published in 1994 and adapted to the book of the same name.]